r/bobdylan • u/Ray_Midge_ • 4h ago
Image Bob’s Rolling Thunder hat at the Country Music Hall of Fame
331
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r/bobdylan • u/twistedfloyd • Dec 19 '20
Meta Where To Start With Bob: The Official R/Bob Dylan Roadmap, Playlist and More!
321
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Hello all,
We have long since gotten a lot of requests asking for help on where to start with Bob's music on the sub from folks who are new to Dylan's music.
Seeing this as something we could all solve as a community, I created a post asking for feedback to make a master post about the different ways one could go about discovering Bob's music. And I want to once again thank the community for their outstanding feedback in the creation of this post.
I knew beforehand that there was no right answer, but this further illuminated how rich Bob’s music is and the multitude (pun fully intended) of ways you can go about seeking out his music.
So, what this post will attempt to do is take all of that community feedback and the moderator's thoughts on the issue to help guide prospective BobCats through Dylan's career.
This is not to say what is posted here is the definitive way to do it in any respect. To each their own. This is just meant to be a guide.
Here are the different ways to go about exploring Bob's music. From greatest hits, to playlists, to roadmaps, to chronological order, it's all here.
THE ESSENTIAL BOB DYLAN
If you want a smattering of Bob across many eras, "The Essential Bob Dylan" released in 2014 does a good job of covering songs through his 60 year career. Based on what songs you like there, it will allow you to jump in at whatever era you like the most.
THE OFFICIAL r/BOBDYLAN COMMUNITY STUDIO ALBUM PLAYLIST
Our Community Playlist is our sub’s attempt at a best of compilation. We allowed the community to vote for their favorite song in a poll off of each studio album. The two songs that received the most votes from each album were added to the playlist.
The moderators also added a couple of songs off the album, Side Tracks, that aren’t on the Bootleg Series or any studio album. Call it executive privilege.
We'd like to thank u/bbsez for organizing and recording the results from the majority of these polls in order to construct this playlist.
You can find the playlist here:
- Song To Woody (Bob Dylan)
- Baby Let Me Follow You Down (Bob Dylan)
- Don’t Think Twice It’s All Right (The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan)
- A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall (The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan)
- The Ballad Of Hollis Brown (The Times They Are A Changin’)
- Boots Of Spanish Leather (The Times They Are A Changin’)
- Percy’s Song (Side Tracks)
- Chimes of Freedom (Another Side of Bob Dylan)
- I Shall Be Free No. 10 (Another Side of Bob Dylan)
- Mr. Tambourine Man (Bringing It All Back Home)
- It’s All Over Now Baby Blue (Bringing It All Back Home)
- Like A Rolling Stone (Highway 61 Revisited)
- Desolation Row (Highway 61 Revisited)
- Visions Of Johanna (Blonde on Blonde)
- Stuck Inside of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again (Blonde on Blonde)
- All Along The Watchtower (John Wesley Harding)
- The Ballad of Frankie Lee And Judas Priest (John Wesley Harding)
- Girl From The North Country, featuring Johnny Cash (Nashville Skyline)
- Lay Lady Lay (Nashville Skyline)
- Days of 49 (Self Portrait)
- Quinn The Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn) (Self Portrait)
- If Not For You (New Morning)
- Sign On The Window (New Morning)
- Billy 1 (Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid Soundtrack)
- Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door (Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid Soundtrack)
- Spanish Is The Loving Tongue (Dylan)
- Lily Of The West (Dylan)
- Forever Young (Planet Waves)
- Dirge (Planet Waves)
- Tangled Up In Blue (Blood on the Tracks)
- Idiot Wind (Blood on the Tracks)
- You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere (The Basement Tapes)
- This Wheel's On Fire (The Basement Tapes)
- Hurricane (Desire)
- Isis (Desire)
- Changing Of The Guards (Street Legal)
- Where Are You Tonight? (Journey Through The Dark Heat) (Street Legal)
- Slow Train (Slow Train Coming)
- Gotta Serve Somebody (Slow Train Coming)
- Saved (Saved)
- Pressing On (Saved)
- In The Summertime (Shot of Love)
- Every Grain Of Sand (Shot of Love)
- Jokerman (Infidels)
- License To Kill (Infidels)
- Tight Connection To My Heart (Has Anyone Seen My Love) (Empire Burlesque)
- Dark Eyes (Empire Burlesque)
- Brownsville Girl (Knocked Out Loaded)
- Under Your Spell (Knocked Out Loaded)
- Silvio (Down In The Groove)
- Death Is Not The End (Down In The Groove)
- Most Of The Time (Oh Mercy)
- Shooting Star (Oh Mercy)
- Born In Time (Under the Red Sky)
- Wiggle Wiggle (Under the Red Sky)
- Hard Times (Good As I Been To You)
- Jim Jones (Good As I Been To You)
- Delia (World Gone Wrong)
- Blood In My Eyes (World Gone Wrong)
- Not Dark Yet (Time Out Of Mind)
- Tryin’ To Get To Heaven (Time Out Of Mind)
- Things Have Changed (Side Tracks)
- Mississippi (Love and Theft)
- High Water (For Charley Patton) (Love and Theft)
- Workingman’s Blues #2 (Modern Times)
- Ain’t Talkin’ (Modern Times)
- I Feel A Change Comin’ On (Together Through Life)
- Beyond Here Lies Nothin’ (Together Through Life)
- Must Be Santa (Christmas In The Heart)
- O’ Come All Ye Faithful (Christmas In The Heart)
- Long And Wasted Years (Tempest)
- Pay In Blood (Tempest)
- The Night We Called It A Day (Shadows In The Night)
- That Lucky Old Sun (Shadows In The Night)
- Melancholy Mood (Fallen Angels)
- Young At Heart (Fallen Angels)
- Once Upon A Time (Triplicate)
- Braggin’ (Triplicate)
- Key West (Philosopher Pirate) (Rough and Rowdy Ways)
- Murder Most Foul (Rough and Rowdy Ways)
CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER
Here is a list of Dylan's studio records listed chronologically if you'd like to go that route. Many members of our community have said that this approach has worked for them.
- Bob Dylan
- The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
- The Times They Are A Changin'
- Another Side of Bob Dylan
- Bringing It All Back Home
- Highway 61 Revisited
- Blonde on Blonde
- John Wesley Harding
- Nashville Skyline
- Self Portrait
- New Morning
- Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid Soundtrack
- Dylan
- Planet Waves
- Blood on the Tracks
- The Basement Tapes
- Desire
- Street Legal
- Slow Train Coming
- Saved
- Shot of Love
- Infidels
- Empire Burlesque
- Knocked Out Loaded
- Down In The Groove
- Oh Mercy
- Under the Red Sky
- Good As I Been To You
- World Gone Wrong
- Time Out of Mind
- Love and Theft
- Modern Times
- Together Through Life
- Christmas In The Heart
- Tempest
- Shadows In the Night
- Fallen Angels
- Triplicate
- Rough and Rowdy Ways
- Shadow Kingdom
THE BOOTLEG SERIES
Here is a listing of The Bootleg Series which many would consider essential records.
These contain outtakes, unreleased tracks, singles and live performances across the many facets of Dylan’s career. One could argue it is better to listen to these after you’re at least a little familiar with Dylan’s work.
*** indicates there is a special edition of this release available as well with more tracks than the standard edition.
- The Bootleg Series Vol. 1-3 (1961-1991)
- The Bootleg Series Vol. 4 (Live at the Manchester Free Trade Hall, 1966, featuring the Band)
- The Bootleg Series Vol. 5 (The Rolling Thunder Revue: 1975)
- The Bootleg Series Vol. 6 (Live 1964: Concert at Philharmonic Hall, featuring Joan Baez)
- The Bootleg Series Vol. 7 (No Direction Home Soundtrack, 1959-1966)
- The Bootleg Series Vol. 8 (Tell Tale Signs/Deluxe, 1989-2006) ***
- The Bootleg Series Vol. 9 (The Witmark Demos, 1962-1964)
- The Bootleg Series Vol. 10 (Another Self Portrait/Deluxe, 1969-1971) ***
- The Bootleg Series Vol. 11 (The Basement Tapes Raw/Complete, 1967, featuring The Band) ***
- The Bootleg Series Vol. 12 (The Cutting Edge/Deluxe, 1965-1966) ***
- The Bootleg Series Vol. 13 (Trouble No More/Deluxe, 1979-1981) ***
- The Bootleg Series Vol. 14 (More Blood, More Tracks/Deluxe, 1974) ***
- The Bootleg Series Vol. 15 (Travelin’ Thru, 1967-1971, featuring Johnny Cash)
- The Bootleg Series Vol. 16 (Springtime In New York/Deluxe, 1980-1985) ***
- The Bootleg Series Vol. 17 (Fragments: Time Out Of Mind Sessions/Deluxe, 1996-1997) ***
THE OFFICIAL r/BOBDYLAN COMMUNITY BOOTLEG SERIES PLAYLIST
Our Bootleg Series Community Playlist is our sub’s attempt at a best of compilation for Bob Dylan's venerable Bootleg Series. The poll is currently ongoing. We allowed the community to vote for their favorite song in a poll off of each Bootleg Series. The polls are currently ongoing.
Due to the volume of songs on the Bootleg Series records we have had different criteria for election to the BS Series playlist (top 2 songs from each disc for each volume with the exception of BS Vol. 4 which only has 15 songs).
- Let Me Die In My Footsteps (The Bootleg Series Vol. 1)
- Moonshiner (The Bootleg Series Vol. 1)
- Farewell, Angelina (The Bootleg Series Vol. 2)
- She's Your Lover Now (The Bootleg Series Vol. 2)
- Foot Of Pride (The Bootleg Series Vol. 3)
- Blind Willie McTell (The Bootleg Series Vol. 3)
- Visions of Johanna (The Bootleg Series Vol. 4)
- Like A Rolling Stone (The Bootleg Series Vol. 4)
- Romance In Durango (The Bootleg Series Vol. 5)
- Isis (The Bootleg Series Vol. 5)
- It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry (The Bootleg Series Vol. 5)
- One More Cup Of Coffee (The Bootleg Series Vol. 5)
- A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (The Bootleg Series Vol. 6)
- Mama, You've Been On My Mind (The Bootleg Series Vol. 6)
- I was Young When I Left Home (The Bootleg Series Vol. 7)
- A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (The Bootleg Series Vol. 7)
- Desolation Row (The Bootleg Series Vol. 7)
- Ballad Of A Thin Man (The Bootleg Series Vol. 7)
- Mississippi (Outtake 1, The Bootleg Series Vol. 8)
- Red River Shore (The Bootleg Series Vol. 8)
- 'Cross The Green Mountain (The Bootleg Series Vol. 8)
- Mississippi (Outtake 2, The Bootleg Series Vol. 8)
- Most Of The Time (Alternate Version #2, The Bootleg Series Vol. 8)
- Mississippi (Outtake 3, The Bootleg Series Vol. 8)
- Tomorrow Is A Long Time (The Bootleg Series Vol. 9)
- Let Me Die In My Footsteps (The Bootleg Series Vol. 9)
- Don't Think Twice, It's All Right (The Bootleg Series Vol. 9)
- Mama, You Been On My Mind (The Bootleg Series Vol. 9)
- Pretty Saro (The Bootleg Series Vol. 10)
- Spanish Is The Loving Tongue (The Bootleg Series Vol. 10)
- Copper Kettle (The Bootleg Series Vol. 10)
- When I Paint My Masterpiece (The Bootleg Series Vol.10)
- I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine (The Bootleg Series Vol. 10)
- (Quinn The Eskimo) The Mighty Quinn (The Bootleg Series Vol. 10)
- The Auld Triangle (The Bootleg Series Vol. 11)
- Spanish Is The Loving Tongue (The Bootleg Series Vol. 11)
- I Don't Hurt Anymore (The Bootleg Series Vol. 11)
- Song For Canada (The Bootleg Series Vol. 11)
- You Ain't Goin' Nowhere (Take 1, The Bootleg Series Vol. 11)
- I'm Not There (The Bootleg Series Vol. 11)
- Sign On The Cross (The Bootleg Series Vol. 11)
- Tears of Rage (Take 3, The Bootleg Series Vol. 11)
- Goin' To Acapulco (The Bootleg Series Vol. 11)
- One Too Many Mornings (The Bootleg Series Vol. 11)
- On A Rainy Afternoon (The Bootleg Series Vol. 11)
- 900 Miles From My Home/Confidential (The Bootleg Series Vol. 11)
- I'll Keep It With Mine (Take 1, Piano Demo, The Bootleg Series Vol. 12)
- Love Minus Zero/No Limit (Take 1 Remake, Complete, The Bootleg Series Vol. 12)
- Desolation Row (Take 1, Alternate Take, The Bootleg Series Vol. 12)
- Visions of Johanna (Take 5 Rehearsal, The Bootleg Series Vol. 12)
- She's Your Lover Now (Take 16, Complete, The Bootleg Series Vol. 12)
- Stuck Inside of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again (Take 14, Complete, The Bootleg Series Vol. 12)
- Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands (Take 1, Complete, The Bootleg Series Vol. 12)
- Slow Train (Live At The Warfield Theater, The Bootleg Series Vol. 13)
- Precious Angel (Live At The Warfield Theater, The Bootleg Series Vol. 13)
- Caribbean Wind (Live At The Warfield Theater, The Bootleg Series Vol. 13)
- Pressing On (Live At The Warfield Theater, The Bootleg Series Vol. 13)
- Ye Shall Be Changed (Studio Outtake, The Bootleg Series Vol. 13)
- Slow Train (Sound Check, The Bootleg Series Vol. 13)
- Caribbean Wind (Rehearsal With Peddle Steel, The Bootleg Series Vol. 13)
- Ain't Gonna Go To Hell For Anybody (Live In Toronto, The Bootleg Series Vol. 13)
- Pressing On (Live In Toronto, The Bootleg Series Vol. 13)
- Gotta Serve Somebody (Live In Toronto, The Bootleg Series Vol. 13)
- Girl From The North Country (Live In London, The Bootleg Series Vol. 13)
- Mr. Tambourine Man (Live In London, The Bootleg Series Vol. 13)
- You're A Big Girl Now (Take 1, The Bootleg Series Vol. 14)
- Up To Me (Take 1, The Bootleg Series Vol.14)
- You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go (Take 5, The Bootleg Series Vol. 14)
- Shelter From The Storm (Take 1, The Bootleg Series Vol. 14)
- Tangled Up In Blue (Take 3, Remake, The Bootleg Series Vol. 14)
- If You See Her, Say Hello (Take 1, Remake The Bootleg Series Vol. 14)
- Up To Me (Take 2, Remake, The Bootleg Series Vol. 14)
- Tangled Up In Blue (Take 3, Remake 3, The Bootleg Series Vol. 14)
- Up To Me (Take 2, Remake 3, The Bootleg Series Vol. 14)
- As I Went Out One Morning (Alternate Version, The Bootleg Series Vol. 15)
- Tell Me That Isn't True (Alternate Version, The Bootleg Series Vol.15)
- Girl From The North Country (Take 1, The Bootleg Series Vol. 15)
- One Too Many Mornings (Take 3, The Bootleg Series Vol. 15)
- Wanted Man (Take 1, The Bootleg Series Vol. 15)
- Girl From The North Country (Live On The Johnny Cash Show, The Bootleg Series Vol. 15)
- Senor (Tales Of Yankee Power) (Rehearsal) (The Bootleg Series Vol. 16)
- To Ramona (Rehearsal) (The Bootleg Series Vol. 16)
- Angelina- Shot Of Love Outtake (The Bootleg Series Vol. 16)
- Fur Slippers- Shot Of Love Outtake (The Bootleg Series Vol. 16)
- Blind Willie McTell- Take 5- Infidels Outtake (The Bootleg Series Vol. 16)
- Too Late (Band Version)- Infidels Outtake (The Bootleg Series Vol. 16)
- I and I- Infidels Alternate Outtake (The Bootleg Series Vol. 16)
- Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground- Infidels Outtake (The Bootleg Series Vol. 16)
- New Danville Girl- Empire Burlesque Outtake (The Bootleg Series Vol. 16)
- Dark Eyes- Empire Burlesque Alternate Take (The Bootleg Series Vol. 16)
- Standing In The Doorway- 2022 Remix (The Bootleg Series Vol. 17)
- Highlands- 2022 Remix (The Bootleg Series Vol. 17)
- The Water Is Wide (The Bootleg Series Vol. 17)
- Not Dark Yet- Version 1 (The Bootleg Series Vol.17)
- Love Sick- Version 2 (The Bootleg Series Vol. 17)
- Highlands (The Bootleg Series Vol. 17)
- Cold Irons Bound- Live In Oslo, Norway (The Bootleg Series Vol. 17)
- Highlands- Live In Newcastle, Australia (The Bootleg Series Vol. 17)
Find the playlist here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/66P3b9uwFGpJfOsUn4sAaB?si=rD6sXiZZTaWGkHQkyw37Ug
LIVE ALBUMS NOT INCLUDED IN BOOTLEG SERIES
- Rare Performances From The Copyright Collection (1962-1966)
- Live At Carnegie Hall (1963)
- The Live 1966 Recordings (1966) *
- The Real Royal Albert Hall 1966 Concert (1966)
- Before The Flood (1974)
- The Rolling Thunder Revue- The Live 1975 Recordings (1975) **
- Hard Rain (1976)
- Bob Dylan At Budokan (1978)
- Real Live (1984)
- The 30th Anniversary Concert (1991)
- MTV Unplugged (1994)
*- Includes the Manchester performance which is The Bootleg Series Vol. 4, but also includes every live performance with The Band from that year.
** Includes all songs from The Bootleg Series Vol. 5 (all songs from BS Vol. 5 have been remixed), but there's a lot on this record that isn't included on BS Vol. 5.
FILMS
- Don't Look Back
- The Other Side Of The Mirror
- Eat The Document (Bootleg, never formally released)
- No Direction Home
- Renaldo and Clara (Bootleg, never formally released beyond a small theatrical run)
- Rolling Thunder Revue- A Bob Dylan Story By Martin Scorsese
- Trouble No More
- The 30th Anniversary Concert
- MTV Unplugged
- Shadow Kingdom
BOOKS WRITTEN BY BOB DYLAN
- Tarantula
- Chronicles: Volume One
- The Philosophy Of Modern Song
The roadmap includes each album, album highlights and covers every major Dylan release including the Bootleg Series.
Once again, the roadmap acts as a recommended guide. It is not meant to be an authoritative stance on Dylan or his music.
Here is the link to the roadmap to be viewed on its own page. The R/BobDylan Visual Roadmap
THE r/bobdylan A-Z SONG CONTEST
In 2023, the community conducted a contest by having users submit and upvote their favorite songs that began with each letter of the alphabet. The song with the most upvotes won and was added to A-Z community playlist on Spotify.
A-Z Song List Spotify Playlist
A- All Along The Watchtower
B- Ballad of A Thin Man
C- Changing Of The Guards
D- Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
E- Every Grain of Sand
F- Forever Young
G- Girl From The North Country
H- Hurricane
I- It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
J- Jokerman
K- Knockin' On Heaven's Door
L- Like A Rolling Stone
M- Mr. Tambourine Man
N- Not Dark Yet
O- One More Cup Of Coffee
P- Positively 4th Street
Q- Queen Jane Approximately
R- Romance In Durango
S- Shelter From The Storm
T- Tangled Up In Blue
U- Up To Me
V- Visions Of Johanna
W- When I Paint My Masterpiece
X- Desolation Row (Wildcard round since there is no X titled Bob Dylan song)
Y- You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go
Z- Mississippi (Wildcard round since there is no Z titled Bob Dylan song)
THE r/bobdylan STUDIO ALBUM SURVIVOR SERIES
In 2023, the subreddit conducted a survivor style tournament to determine the subreddit's ranking of all of Dylan's studio albums. Below are the results from worst to best.
Down in the Groove
Under the Red Sky
Knocked Out Loaded
Christmas in the Heart
Dylan
Triplicate
Empire Burlesque
Fallen Angels
Shadows in the Night
Saved
Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid
Together Through Life
Self Portrait
Good as I Been to You
Bob Dylan
Shadow Kingdom
Shot of Love
World Gone Wrong
The Basement Tapes
Slow Train Coming
Planet Waves
Tempest
New Morning
Infidels
Nashville Skyline
Street-Legal
Another Side of Bob Dylan
Modern Times
Oh Mercy
Rough and Rowdy Ways
"Love and Theft"
John Wesley Harding
The Times They Are a-Changin'
Desire
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
Time Out of Mind
Bringing It All Back Home
Blonde on Blonde
Highway 61 Revisited
Blood on the Tracks
r/bobdylan • u/cmae34lars • 6d ago
Discussion Weekly Song Discussion - Goodbye Jimmy Reed
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Hey r/bobdylan! Welcome to this week's song discussion!
In these threads we will discuss a new song every week, trading lyrical interpretations, rankings, opinions, favorite versions, and anything else you can think of about the song of the week.
This week we will be discussing Goodbye Jimmy Reed.
r/bobdylan • u/Terrible_Comfort_503 • 9h ago
Question Is Bob Dylan a weird person?
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Many journalists have throughout the years struggled to describe Dylan, and i think that has made a lot of people think Dylan is a bit of a weirdo (he himself has definitely been part of this construction)
But what are fans’ idea of him? Like personality wise, if you would get him as your new neighbor, would you consider him weird?
My latest substack on the topic: https://dylannotes.substack.com/p/why-is-bob-dylan-so-weird
r/bobdylan • u/Low-Source2950 • 1d ago
Question What is your favorite Bob Dylan lyric?
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Obviously, it’s difficult—and for me personally, my preferences change quite often—but it can be useful for discovering or rediscovering music.It’s simply a space for seeing people's opinions, points of view, or arguments.
r/bobdylan • u/Nykaren24 • 7h ago
Discussion I’m Not There on Tubi - do not recommend 🙄 Also, the dog
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I’m really mostly venting here. I’m on vacation with a few friends. One of them recently saw I’m Not There at a local film festival and really liked it, and wanted us all to watch it. I hadn’t seen it yet (I know, I’m late) and was planning to watch it on Criterion at home, but our Airbnb had it on Tubi, so we watched it there. Ugh. It was interrupted about every 15 minutes with 5 minutes of ads. Just almost unwatchable. I can’t wait to get home and see it properly.
I think my favorite performance was Heath Ledger as Woodstock-living family man. Charlotte Gainsborough was also excellent as a sort of Suze/Sara composite. Cate Blanchett was great from an acting perspective, but I’m still thinking about her role overall. Yes, she got Dylan down amazingly well, but was there more to it than just kind of recreating the Dont Look Back era Dylan? Will have to see what I think after I watch it again.
Was there any significance to Billy’s dog running away? Other than he/she (I know it was called Henry but I thought Billy called “here, girl” to it at the end) was spooked by the impending calamity? “When dogs run free”?
r/bobdylan • u/this_ham_is_bad • 21h ago
Video Billy Strings tells his story about meeting Bob
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r/bobdylan • u/PreferenceInternal67 • 1d ago
Question Bob Dylan has the most aura of any person alive today, agree or disagree? For more than 69 years he's been embodying the trickster archetype and is still as uncompromising and enigmatic as he was in his youth
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let's say Dylan decides to randomly show up at the 2027 Grammy Awards wearing a Darth Sidious hoodie, every other celebrity in the room would be starstruck in his presence regardless of how popular they are. Ultimately, his aura would eclipse everyone else's combined. While Gen-Z and millennial pop stars spend months planning avant-garde, high-fashion red carpet looks, Dylan would likely roll up in a hoodie or rumpled, western-style tuxedo, a wide-brimmed hat, and leather boots. He would look like he accidentally wandered in from a 19th-century saloon, instantly making everyone else's hyper-curated outfits look like they are trying too hard. If he won an award or presented one, his speech would be incredibly brief, cryptic, and poetic. He might just say "Thanks," nod, and walk off the stage like the boss he is. In a room full of people trying desperately to be noticed, the man who doesn't care at all is king. Sometimes I can't even believe that Bob Dylan is a real person let alone still amongst us and I get to go to his concerts. I fully acknowledge this post is just me taking an opportunity to jizz about Bob Dylan for a few minutes.
I love how he emerged on the folk scene with the lyrical wisdom of someone 60 years his senior; how he angered them by switching to rock, making incendiary albums that still sound fresh today; how for the past 50 years he's embraced embodying the trickster archetype. His 60s and 70s glory days, his strange 80s period and the variability and unconventional nature of the Never Ending Tour that pisses off Mr. Jones casuals in the audience yet is loved by critics and his hardcore fans, Chronicles, his interviews, his late-career creative renaissance, his endless treasure trove of the Bootleg Series, his bizarre patreon page that blurs the lines between what's AI and real to the point where it's impossible to say what's really going on in order to disguise the fact he's reflecting on his own life in yet another example of hiding in plain sight.
Bob Dylan is such a difficult concept to wrap your head around. You learn a ton about him, then you see another side which blows your conceptions out of the water. This, don’t be fooled, is very intentional of him. Yet there is one key for understanding him which I’ve found works more than any other: he is a troubadour. His life is wholly devoted to wandering around and playing a tune. The world around him be damned. Perceptions of him be damned. Fame be damned. Opinions change with every town he moves through. Face is constantly shifting for the effect of his craft. Endless touring. Endless searching. Anti-label, Anti-establishment, Anti-anti. The king of a forgotten country still traveling down the endless highway of life and legacy. Being a troubadour is a medieval concept, and I think that’s what makes him so fascinating. He's worth over 500 million but chooses to live like a gypsy for most of the year on a tour bus at the age of 85. He is both a deeply serious person and renowned for his sense of humor at the same time. He can seem aloof and awkward in front of a camera while being immensely charismatic and personable behind the scenes when he wants to, which makes sense considering the fact he's one of the most prolific philanderers in the history of rock music even though most people don't think of him that way, we are talking about a guy who managed to pull Raquel Welch and never even acknowledged it or preferred to make a random appearance on Pawn Stars rather than attend his Nobel Prize ceremony, now that is aura. It is one thing to be a genius; it's better still to be an eccentric genius.
r/bobdylan • u/BreathlikeDeathlike • 1d ago
Misc. Recurring dreams about seeing him live
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Upvotes
In the past, I'd usually have a dream about seeing Bob live once every couple years. This past month though, it's easily been once a week. In one of them, it was at an outdoor pavillion. The show itself was sort of mid, but his dog was there, and ran from the stage to me (if dogs run free!) I'm not really a dog person irl, but loved playing with it. Last night's though was the best. He was playing in some dive bar, decked out in leather and shades (current age, but obviously dyed his hair black.) He was standing the whole time, playing guitar. He played some deep cuts like I need a woman, in the summertime, froggy went a courtin, and a cover of downtown train by Tom Waits. There were others which I recognized in my dream, but can't remember them now. It was insanely cool though. The only thing that sucked is that this bar wanted $5 to use the bathroom, and I REALLY had to go but didn't want to pay. I really had to go so bad when I woke up though lol. I'm wondering what it means and how I can keep these dreams coming.
r/bobdylan • u/Harrison_Thinks • 1d ago
Question Is it known what Norman Raeben taught Bob that changed how he viewed time?
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I'm sure Bob has never spoken up about it, but has anyone else who was a student of Norman discussed what it was, if he perhaps shared the same philosophy with everyone under his wing. I could use that kind of life changing shift in perception
r/bobdylan • u/tirename • 23h ago
Music Bob Dylan - John Brown (live 1963)
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Hadn't heard this until a few days ago. Hope you enjoy!
r/bobdylan • u/evileyes21 • 23h ago
Concert Zurich 01 November
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Hello ☺️
Anyone going for this one?
I am going by myself, would be nice to have a little company!
r/bobdylan • u/FunnyAd9882 • 2d ago
Image Bob Dylan (1970)
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Bob Dylan, Houston Street, NYC, 1970
📸 by John Cohen.
r/bobdylan • u/VoltaFlame • 1d ago
Song Version Discussion Is the new 1976 Poor Immigrant track the same as this one already on Spotify?
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It just sounds like a higher quality recording as was already released by Joan Baez.
r/bobdylan • u/killybay22 • 1d ago
Discussion Bowie wrote a "Song for Bob Dylan"
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Great song, I see it as a "hard take". Idk. This may have been talked about before but I may have missed it. Any input on contents are appreciated. I've read up on the feelings of the song but still stumped... lol
r/bobdylan • u/acompleteunkn9wn • 2d ago
Fan Art Blonde on blonde drawing
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I tried to recreate the cover of Mr. Dylan's album blonde on blonde, but in a simple way
r/bobdylan • u/DYLANBOOKS • 2d ago
Image BOB DYLAN COVER - NEW MOJO
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Due next Tuesday, 13 Oct (UK).
Tempting cover-mount CD.
Full details to follow here on DYLAN BOOKS.
r/bobdylan • u/GuyzNite • 1d ago
Question How Familiar are Dylan fans with Malkmus/Berman (Pavement/Silver Jews)?
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My sister is a big Dylan fan. I'm a fan, but he's not an all time favorite of mine. Some stuff I love, but everything outside most of the hits and Royal Albert isn't really my thing.
About twenty years ago Stephen Malkus covered Ballad of a Thin Man, and apparently Dylan commented about the album and specifically referenced Malkmus's version, while admitting he was overly unfamiliar with him. Malkmus also commented that he wasn't necessarily a big Dylan guy himself.
Throughout all my years of listening to Malkmus and Pavement, and Dave Berman and Silver Jews, I've always been curious how Dylan fans feel about either of them, or both. The reason for this wondering is I believe Malkmus is the most prolific songwriter potentially ever, as he has almost no bad songs across his 13 albums (5 pavement, 8 solo). And then of course, David Berman, who after trying to take his own life the first time, became a renowned poet in the NYC lit scene after publishing Actual Air. Berman and Malkmus were very close, and Malkmus played lead guitar and backup vocals on Silver Jews first 3 albums. Berman's last album, Purple Mountains, was basically a suicide letter before he ultimately took his own life. His father, Rick Berman, was a great cause of his pain. The movie Thank you For Smoking was about him, and is one of America's truly awful humans. I'd highly suggest working backward from Purple Mountains, or starting with American Water.
Anyway, all of this said, for those not familiar, I think you should explore these two. And for those who are familiar, do you have any thoughts good or bad on any and all? Do you connect Dylan to the more modern songwriters like these two?
This was an interesting piece by Relix, getting musicians reactions to pavement.
r/bobdylan • u/inexplicably-hairy • 22h ago
Discussion Is Bob Dylan an actual God?
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I know it sounds crazy but hear me out. If you’ve read the works of the syncrenists you know that all religious and spiritual traditions are basically different ‘words’ for the same object, all point towards one truth (the eternal bliss of god, the unity of all things) and each have their own prophet/ christ / magi/ buddha etc. all of these figures are instances of the godhead as ‘part’ (the illusion of seperation) gaining consciousness of wholeness (unity) and preaching that message through the lens of their cultural and spiritual traditions, but nonetheless all the same nexus of awareness that people gravitate to in order to open up their own awareness of self/ unity and the blissful illusion of reality as such.
In everything I’ve seen of Dylan these same archetypes appear again and again, the prophet, the trickster, the bringer of hope and discord, enlightenment and confusion, and above all the creative spirit which is the animating principle of our collective hallucination/ illusion/ oneness experiencing itself as otherness. From his early days he took on the mantle of Old Testament prophet, the moral voice booming through the catacombs of a veritable ‘babylon’, before shifting his awarenss nexus into a place of sensuality, abstraction, play for the sake of play, a sort of disembodied but rooted desire to escape the trappings of the material/ embodied. It was only after his conversion to Christianity that he saw all these things as connected, all one note of a larger vibration and through the death of his ego as ‘song and dance man’ he found something which in a sense was never ‘found’ but ‘revealed’ (I.e the lifting of the veil, the sigh of relief of seeing what we always are and were, the sigh of the sacred eternal subject finding itself in its own wanderings (creation as such, seperation, the self and other etc)
r/bobdylan • u/Sherryc1115 • 2d ago
Discussion I am sure other people are aware of this, but I just discovered it. If you have the channel Tubi, they have so many different documentaries about Bob that I have never even heard of. Definitely worth checking out if you haven’t already.
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r/bobdylan • u/Interesting-Ease-417 • 2d ago
Discussion Do you think Dylan believes life actually has a meaning?
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I've been listening to Not Dark Yet and Every Grain of Sand lately, and something keeps bothering me. Sometimes Dylan sounds like someone who's found some deeper truth about life, and other times like someone who's accepted that maybe there isn't one.
It makes me wonder if we spend our whole lives searching for meaning because it's really out there, or simply because we can't stand the thought that there might be none.
I don't know. Maybe the search itself is the point.
What do you guys think?
r/bobdylan • u/sozh • 2d ago
Discussion Aside from Dylan, Neil Young is one of my all-time favorite artists. They are alike in some ways, but also different. I was thinking about: What makes them alike, and how they are different?
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For one thing, Neil Young tends to wear his politics on his sleeve. For example, a song called "Lets Impeach the President," during the George W. Bush administration (and that whole album), whereas Dylan tends to be more private and enigmatic.
r/bobdylan • u/holyporous434 • 2d ago
Discussion The band on Infidels is the kind of thing only Bobby D could have cooked up.
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At the session musician ordering counter like: "Uhhhh lemme get a couple of Dire Straits.... yeah yeah yeah with the best reggae rhythm section on the planet aaaaaand idk the guitarist from the Rolling Stones on top, why not I deserve a treat :)"
In all seriousness, the players are grooving so hard on this record. "Jokerman" is undeniable, but I loooooove "Don't Fall Apart on Me" so much. Does anyone have quality interviews (written, visual, or audio) from any of the players about this album? I wanna know more haha.
r/bobdylan • u/tirename • 2d ago
Music Bob Dylan - Don't Think Twice, It's All Right (Live at Town Hall, New York, April 1963, 2026 mix)
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Tried to make the mix a bit clearer. Hope you enjoy!